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Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Running barefoot boosts your memory

New research from the University of
North Florida has found that running barefoot boosts our working
memory, the ability to categorise and remember figures, information
and details within a short period of time.

Researchers enrolled 72 participants
and split them into two groups – one would run barefoot at
their own pace for 16 minutes, and the other group would run in shoes. Both groups had
their working memory tested before and after the run.

The results were startling – the
group who ran with nothing between their feet and the ground
increased their working memory by a whopping 16 percent from the
baseline, while those with shoes on found no increase whatsoever.

According to Dr Ross Alloway, one of
the lead authors of the study, this is because barefoot running
provides your brain with incredibly more 'feedback', warming it up
for the later memory test.

"The little things often have the
greatest impact. This research shows us that we can realise our
cognitive potential and enjoy ourselves at the same time," says
Alloway.”If we take off our shoes and go for a run, we can finish
smarter than when we started."

The experiment is the first in the
world to demonstrate that running barefoot leads to better mental
performance compared to running in shoes.